Letters To The Editor February 2011

Baiting For Deer Has Multiple Benefits To The Hunters

Dear GON,

I moved here to Georgia 13 years ago from the great state of Texas. Since I have been here, I have had some long and sometimes heated debates about baiting. My argument is that Texas has baited for a long time and has one of the healthiest deer populations in the USA. The benefits to baiting are numerous. To mention a couple, you get to see what you have on your property/lease for good quality deer management purposes in addition to better hog and predator control. Another benefit is that some of the small landowners/hunters can’t afford taking the time or the cost of a food plot. Remember, if you feed them, they will come.

Come to think of it, GON held a vote on baiting awhile back, and the “Yes” votes outweighed the “No” votes by a very large percentage. But like everything else in our great country, the lobbyists won over what the majority of the citizens wanted.

Will Aguilar, Kathleen

Deer Hit My Feeders at Night

Dear GON,

During the closed season, I have sometimes put out feeders and salt licks along with trail cameras to monitor and survey the deer holding on my property. Most of the time, I found that 90 to 95 percent of the pictures were taken well after sunset and well before sunrise. Therefore, the prospect of actually shooting a deer over bait would not be the high percentage that many people would think existed.

The only real advantage of placing bait is that it does hold deer close to your property, and you may see more deer movement. I have known people who hunt in other states where baiting is legal, and they don’t seem to kill any more or see more deer than I or fellow hunters in Georgia.

I think the real reason for not allowing baiting in Georgia is totally about revenue because if you ask any game warden what game violation he/she writes the most tickets for, it would be hunting over bait.

Barry Campbell, Stockbridge

Getting Tired Of Seeing 40-lb. Does Hanging Everywhere

Dear GON,

Regarding the “Too Liberal on Bag Limits” letter that appeared in the January 2011 issue, there is no doubt in my mind that liberal bag limits have had a detrimental affect on the deer herd in some parts of Georgia. I have hunted in south Georgia for 25 years, the past 10 on a 350-acre lease in northern Randolph County. Ten years ago, I would consistently see from one to 10 deer every time I hunted. In the past five or six years, I have noticed a steady trend of seeing fewer and fewer deer each year.

The “kill anything” mentality of some has just about wiped out the deer herd in that area. I have seen enough 40-lb. does hanging on the skinning racks of some neighboring clubs to know that many harbor that mentality. It makes me sick to my stomach every time I see such.

I’m no wildlife biologist, but even I know enough to understand that if too many does are killed, the herd will dwindle. That’s exactly what I believe is happening in many parts of the state.

The Georgia DNR needs to take a serious look at reducing bag limits back to a reasonable number as well as the mentality of having either-sex days last from start to finish.

Bobby Widner, Albany

Worst Season Ever!

Dear GON,

This season was my worst ever! There is an old ball field on our property that up until the last few years was always torn up with tracks. They gradually decreased until this year when I would only occassionally find one set of old tracks. I keep telling our members that when you’ve killed all the does you’ve killed the herd, and when times get hard a man won’t let his kids go hungry, season or no season.

Our lease is in Putnam County and Jasper County, and we had more deer harvested in Jasper County where there are very few houses around.

Jimmy Newman, Cumming

Can We Finally Get With The Program And Pass Baiting?

Dear GON,

I would like to voice my opinion on two issues. First, the automobile insurance companies and their lobbyist convinced the DNR to raise kill limits to reduce the number of auto accidents involving deer. It wasn’t too long ago when the limit was a buck and two does. Now, it’s 10 does and two bucks. This is not deer management. This is deer reduction at an extreme level.

Second, baiting is simply defined as “any substance used to entice or allure with a view to catching.” Bait is bait whether you throw it out or you plant it. It’s done for one reason only, to allure. Get with the program that so many other states follow, allow baiting.

D. Ray Farmer, Brunswick

Fall Turkey Season Anyone?

Dear GON,

Recent reports indicate the Georgia turkey population is at an all-time high. Why not have a fall hen hunt before an overpopulation of diseased turkeys begin roosting under our carports?

Vic Gardner, Gray